1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a transport and storage container for liquids, comprising an inner container made of plastic material having an upper bottom with a fill socket, two sidewalls, a front wall, comprising an outlet socket arranged at the lower edge area for connecting thereto a removal fitting for the liquid, a back wall as well as a lower bottom configured as a drainage bottom with a centrally arranged flat drainage channel which extends at a slight incline from the back wall of the container to a bottom sump provided in the lower bottom and adjoining the outlet socket in the front wall of the inner container, furthermore comprising an outer mantle comprised of metal grate or sheet metal as well as a pallet-like underframe which is provided with a support bottom supported on corner and center legs and configured for supporting the inner container and designed for manipulation by means of a transport device such as a forklift, shelf servicing device or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The plastic inner container of transport and storage containers for liquids of this kind, disclosed in German patent 42 06 945 C1, has at the lower area of its container front wall a central dome-shaped bulge for receiving the outlet socket and the removal fitting for the liquid. Because of this dome-shaped bulge in the container front wall, the portions of the lower bottom of the inner container adjoining the bulge and the lower edge area of the container front wall form traps for the liquid in which residual liquid is collected when emptying and cleaning the container. This liquid, upon renewed filling of the transport and storage container, can cause an impermissible contamination of the freshly filled-in liquid so that the container fulfills the required hygiene specifications, particularly in the case of transport and storage of liquid food articles such as juices and syrup, only to an unsatisfactory degree.
It is an object of the present invention to further develop a container of the aforementioned kind for transporting and storing liquids with respect to optimal emptying of residual amounts of liquid.
In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in that the lower bottom of the inner container comprises, on both sides of a dome-shaped bulge in the container front wall for receiving the outlet socket and the removal fitting, two forward bottom portions with drainage surfaces for draining the residual liquid out of the forward bottom area of the inner container via the bottom sump into the outlet socket of the inner container during removal of residual liquid from the transport and storage container, wherein the two forward bottom portions ascend toward the container front wall and the adjoining corner areas or toward the front wall and the sidewalls and the adjoining corner areas.
In another embodiment, the front wall of the inner container has an inwardly projecting bulge extending over the entire width of the front wall and comprised of an inwardly projecting shoulder and an adjoining recessed vertical lower wall portion, wherein the outlet socket and the removal fitting are arranged centrally on the vertical lower wall portion.
By means of the forward bottom portions, having an incline opposite to the incline of the lower container bottom which descends slightly from the back wall to the front wall of the inner container of the lower bottom of the inner container, in accordance with the first embodiment of the transport and storage container according to the invention, on either side of the bulge in the container front wall, provided for receiving the outlet socket and the removal fitting, drainage surfaces are formed for guiding the residual liquid out of the forward bottom area of the inner container via the bottom sump into the outlet socket of the inner container during emptying of the residual liquid from the transport and storage container. This bottom construction enables a very good emptying of the residual liquid of the transport and storage container.
A further embodiment of the transport and storage container with an inner container according to the invention, wherein the container front wall has in the area of the lower container bottom a bulge which extends over the entire front wall width and has the central outlet socket for connecting thereto a removal fitting arranged centrally thereat, also prevents trapping of liquid so that an optimal emptying of the residual liquid is ensured wherein, however, as a result of the bulge in the front wall of the inner container a slight reduction of the volume of the transport and storage container must be accepted.